Prewelt shoe manufacture



Filed Dec. 21'. 1940 Siiiirm i --Qh Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNITED STA'EFES PREWELT SHOE MANUFACTURE Karl Engel, Swampscott, Mass,

assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemingt-on, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey 3 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of prewelt shoes and is herein illustrated in its application to the manufacture of that type of prewelt shoe in which an insole is securely attached to the welted margin of the upper making the shoe repairable.

It is an object of thepresent invention to provide a simple and economical method of manufacturing shoes of this type involving relatively few and simple operations and Well adapted to a high rate of production.

With the above object in view, the invention in one aspect thereof comprises a method of making prewelt shoes which consists in securing an insole to the welted margin of a prewelt upper off the last along the sides of the upper but not at the toe end,--the toe portion of the upper being left unattached to the insole so that the toe portions of the upper and insole may spread apart to facilitate the insertion of a last into the upper, mounting the toe end of the upper in inverted position on a supporting member extending heightwise of the last and constructed and arranged to operate within the welt crease and, while the upper is so supported, forcing the toe portion of the last downwardly into the upper, for example, by means of a depressor constructed and arranged to act against the toe portion of the last. A machine having such a toe-supportin member and last depressor is illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 2,081,228 granted May 25, 1937, on my application. This machine is well adapted to perform a pulling-over operation upon a prewelt upper such as that herein illustrated.

These and other aspects of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, illustrating the steps of the preferred method, in which Fig. l is a perspective view illustrating a prewelt upper of the type above referred to;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation illustrating the beginning of the pulling-over operation, the toesupporting member and the toe end of the upper being shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 2, showing only the toe portion of the upper, and illustrating the operation of a member which lays the welted margin of the upper over the toe end of the insole; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevation illustrating the cement attachment of an outsole to the welt in a bed-lasting machine.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a prewelt upper in to the lasting margin of which an insole l2 and a welt I4 are secured by stitches is which extend through a marginal extension l8 of the insole which is omitted at the toe end of the insole in order to leave that portion of the insole unattached to the upper.

In practicing the method of the present invention, a last 20 (Fig. 2) is inserted into the upper through the foot-receiving opening thereof, the toe portion of the last projecting slightly through the bottorn opening of the toe end of the upper, as illustrated in Fig. 2. After inserting the last, the upper is arranged in inverted position and its toe end is mounted on a supporting plate 22' extending heightwise of the upper and constructed and arranged to engage the upper within the welt crease. A suitable upper-supporting member of this sort is illustrated in my patent above referred to. While the toe portion of the upper is supported by the plate 22, a last depressor 24, such as the last depressor illustrated in my patent, is brought to bear against the toe portion of the insole on the last bottom and operated by downward movement to force the toe end of the last into the supported upper (Fig. 3). At this stage in the manufacture of the shoe, cement is preferably applied to the inner surface of the margin of the upper at its toe end and to the margin of the toe portion of the insole for securing said parts together. In order to lay the welted margin of the toe portion of the upper inwardly over the toe end of the insole, a, plate 26 (better illustrated in my said patent) is brought into engagement with the sole-attaching face of the welt and operated to bring the welted margin of the upper in over the edge of the last bottom and into engagement with the margin of the insole. The depressor 24 is now retracted and the upper is removed from the toe-supporting member 22. For lasting the upper and cement-attaching an outsole thereto, the last and upper are positioned in a machine such, for example, as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 2,042,518, granted June 2, 1936, on my application. This machine is provided with toe lasting wipers 28 and heel lasting wipers 39 constructed and arranged to last both the ends and the sides of the upper and to support the welt with the upper in lasted position while an outsole 32 is cement-attached to the welt by a pressure pad 34 with which the machine is provided. After cement-attaching the outsole to the welt, the shoe is completed in accordance with the usual practice in prewelt shoe manufacture.

While I prefer to practice the method of the present invention in conjunction with the operation of the machines illustrated in my patents above referred to, it will be understood that the method of the present invention is not limited in its scope to steps contemplating the use of said machines, but may be practiced with the aid of other suitable machines or apparatus. For example, the pulling-over operation may be performed by means of a tool such as that illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,089,951 granted August 17, 1937 on an application of Joseph Fausse;

Having thus described my invention, whatI claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That method of making prewelt shoes which comprises securing an insole to the welted margin of a prewelt upper along the sides of the upper but not at the toe end, inserting a last into the upper, supporting the toe portion of the upper in inverted position by means of a plate extending heightwise of the upper into the welt crease, forcing the toe portion of the last downwardly to shape the toe portion of the upper, laying the welted margin at the toe end of the upper over the toe portion of the insole, and completing the shoe.

2. That method of making prewelt shoes which comprises securing an insole to the welted margin of a prewelt upper along the sides of the upper but not at the toe end, inserting a last into the upper, the toe end of the last projecting slightly through the opening between the insole and the upper at the toe end of the upper, supporting the toe end of the upper in inverted position on a member constructed and arranged to engage the upper within the welt crease, forcing the toe portion of the last downwardly into the toe portion of the upper by means of a depressor constructed and arranged to operate against the toe portion of the last, laying the welted margin at the toe end of the upper inwardly over the toe portion of the insole, and completing the shoe.

3. That method of making prewelt shoes which comprises securing an insole to the welted margin of a prewelt upper along the sides of the upper but not at the toe end, inserting a last into the upper, the toe end of the last projecting slightly through the opening between the insole and the upper at the toe end of the upper, supporting the toe end of the upper in inverted position on a member constructed and arranged to engage the upper within the welt crease, forcing the toe portion of the last downwardly into the toe portion of the upper, laying the welted margin at the toe end of the upper inwardly over the toe portion of the insole, lasting the upper in a bed lasting machine having wipers constructed and arranged to last both the ends and the sides of the upper, and cement attaching an outsole to the welt while the welted margin is held in lasted position by the wipers.

KARL ENGEL. 

